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Troodontids
Troodontidae is a clade of bird-like theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. During most of the 20th century, troodontid fossils were few and incomplete and they have therefore been allied, at various times, with many dinosaurian lineages. More recent fossil discoveries of complete and articulated specimens (including specimens which preserve feathers, eggs, embryos, and complete juveniles), have helped to increase understanding about this group. Anatomical studies, particularly studies of the most primitive troodontids, like '' Sinovenator'', demonstrate striking anatomical similarities with ''Archaeopteryx'' and primitive dromaeosaurids, and demonstrate that they are relatives comprising a clade called Paraves. Evolution The oldest definitive troodontid known is '' Hesperornithoides'' from the Late Jurassic of Wyoming. The slightly older '' Koparion'' of Utah is only represented by a single tooth, and small maniraptoran teeth from the Middle Jurassic o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jianianhualong
''Jianianhualong'' (meaning "Jianianhua dragon") is a genus of troodontidae, troodontid theropoda, theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. It contains a single species, ''Jianianhualong tengi'', named in 2017 by Xu Xing (paleontologist), Xu Xing and colleagues based on an articulated skeleton preserving feathers. The feathers at the middle of the tail of ''Jianianhualong'' are asymmetric, being the first record of asymmetrical feathers among the troodontids. Despite aerodynamics, aerodynamic differences from the flight feathers of modern birds, the feathers in the tail vane of ''Jianianhualong'' could have functioned in aerodynamic drag, drag reduction whilst the animal was moving. The discovery of ''Jianianhualong'' supports the notion that asymmetrical feathers appeared early in the evolutionary history of the Paraves. ''Jianianhualong'' possesses a combination of traits seen in basal (phylogenetics), basal as well as traits seen in derived troodontids. This is con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xixiasaurus
''Xixiasaurus'' () is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (geologic time), Period in what is now China. The only known specimen was discovered in Xixia County, Henan Province, in central China, and became the holotype of the new genus and species ''Xixiasaurus henanensis'' in 2010 in paleontology, 2010. The names refer to the areas of discovery, and can be translated as "Henan Xixia lizard". The specimen consists of an almost complete skull (except for the hindmost portion), part of the lower jaw, and teeth, as well as a partial right forelimb. ''Xixiasaurus'' is estimated to have been long and to have weighed . As a troodontid, it would have been bird-like and lightly built, with grasping hands and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on the second toe. Its skull was long, with a long, low snout that formed a tapering U-shape when seen from below. The of the forehead was dome-like in side view, which indicates it had an enlarged . It differed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liaoningvenator
''Liaoningvenator'' (meaning "Liaoning hunter") is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. It contains a single species, ''L. curriei'', named after paleontologist Phillip J. Currie in 2017 by Shen Cai-Zhi and colleagues from an articulated, nearly complete skeleton, one of the most complete troodontid specimens known. Shen and colleagues found indicative traits that placed ''Liaoningvenator'' within the Troodontidae. These traits included its numerous, small, and closely packed teeth, as well as the vertebrae towards the end of its tail having shallow grooves in place of neural spines on their top surfaces. Within the Troodontidae, the closest relative of ''Liaoningvenator'' was ''Eosinopteryx'', and it was also closely related to ''Anchiornis'' and ''Xiaotingia''; while these have traditionally been placed outside the Troodontidae, the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Shen and colleagues offered evidence supporting the alternative identific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byronosaurus
''Byronosaurus'' is a genus of Troodontidae, troodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), Period of Mongolia. Discovery and naming In 1993, Michael Novacek, a member of an American Museum of Natural History expedition to the Gobi Desert, discovered the skeleton of a small Theropoda, theropod at Ukhaa Tolgod. This was further excavated in 1994 and 1995. The find was illustrated in a publication in 1994. On 15 July 1996, at the Bolor's Hill site, about eight kilometers (five miles) away from the original location, a second specimen was discovered, a skull. In 2000, Mark Norell, Peter Makovicky and James Clark named and described the type species ''Byronosaurus jaffei''. The species name as a whole honoured Byron Jaffe, "in recognition of his family's support for the Mongolian Academy of Sciences-American Museum of Natural History Paleontological Expeditions". The holotype, IGM 100/983, was found in a layer of the Djadochta Formation dating from the late Campanian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daliansaurus
''Daliansaurus'' (meaning "Dalian reptile") is a genus of small troodontid theropod dinosaur, measuring approximately long, from the Early Cretaceous of China. It contains a single species, ''D. liaoningensis'', named in 2017 by Shen and colleagues from a nearly complete skeleton preserved in three dimensions. ''Daliansaurus'' is unusual in possessing an enlarged claw on the fourth digit of the foot, in addition to the "sickle claw" found on the second digit of the feet of most paravians. It also has long metatarsal bones, and apparently possesses bird-like uncinate processes (a first among troodontids). In the Lujiatun Beds of the Yixian Formation, a volcanically-influenced region with a cold climate, ''Daliansaurus'' lived alongside its closest relatives - '' Sinovenator'', '' Sinusonasus'', and '' Mei'', with which it forms the group Sinovenatorinae. Description ''Daliansaurus'' is a small, lightly-built, and most likely feathered troodontid measuring approximately in leng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troodon Formosus
''Troodon'' ( ; ''Troödon'' in older sources) is a controversial genus of relatively small, bird-like theropod dinosaurs definitively known from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period (about 77 million years ago). It includes at least one species, ''Troodon formosus'', known from Montana. Discovered in October 1855, ''T. formosus'' was among the first dinosaurs found in North America, although it was thought to be a lizard until 1877. Several well-known troodontid specimens from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta have been historically considered members of this genus. In a 2017 analysis, the genus was considered undiagnostic, and some of its specimens were referred to the genus '' Stenonychosaurus'' (long believed to be synonymous with ''Troodon''), some to the genus '' Latenivenatrix'', and some to the genus '' Pectinodon''. However, this has been disputed since, and a 2025 paper recommended the designation of a neotype to preserve ''Troodons validity, with '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinovenator
''Sinovenator'' (meaning "Chinese hunter") is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from China. It is from the early Cretaceous Period (geology), Period. Discovery and naming Two specimens of a troodontidae, troodontid were described in 2002 in paleontology, 2002. They are both housed in the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, under the specimen numbers IVPP V 12615 and IVPP V 12583. Xu Xing (paleontologist), Xu Xing, Mark Norell, and colleagues authored the study describing them, finding the specimens to represent a new taxon, for which was chosen the binomial name, binomial ''Sinovenator changii''. The generic name was derived from the Latin word ''Sinae'', for China, and ''Venator'', or "hunter". Meemann Chang is honoured by the species name for her contributions to the study of the Jehol Fauna. As Chang is a female researcher, the epithet should have been "changae"; however, such mistakes cannot be emended according to the rules of the International Code of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geminiraptor
''Geminiraptor'' (meaning "twin seizer") is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. ''Geminiraptor'' was a small, ground-dwelling bipedal carnivorous paravian. The type species of ''Geminiraptor'' is ''G. suarezarum''. Discovery and naming The holotype and only known specimen of Geminiraptor is CEUM 7319, a maxilla recovered from the Lower Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, in Utah, dating from the early to late Valanginian stage (about 139 to 134 million years ago). The name refers to Drs. Marina and Celina Suarez, the twin geologists who discovered the Suarez site from which the fossil was recovered. ''G. suarezarum'' was named by Phil Senter, James I. Kirkland, John Bird and Jeff A. Bartlett in 2010. The generic name, ''Geminiraptor'', is from the Latin ''geminae'' (“twins") and ''raptor'' ("seizer"). The specific name, ''suarezarum'', uses their last name ''Suarez''. Descripti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinornithoides
''Sinornithoides'' (meaning "Chinese bird form") is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaurs containing the single species ''Sinornithoides youngi''. ''S. youngi'' lived during the Early Cretaceous (Aptian/Albian stage, around 113 million years ago).Sereno, P.C. (2010). "Taxonomy, cranial morphology, and relationships of parrot-beaked dinosaurs (Ceratopsia: ''Psittacosaurus'')." ''New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs''. Bloomington: Indiana, 21-58. It measured approximately one meter long (3.3 ft). It lived in Inner Mongolia, China, and probably ate invertebrates and other small prey. They lived in what is now Mongolia, which was part of Laurasia. Discovery In 1988, a Chinese-Canadian expedition discovered the remains of a small theropod near Huamuxiao, in the Ordos Basin of Inner Mongolia. ''Sinornithoides youngi'', the type species, was named and described in 1993/1994 by Dale Russell and Dong Zhiming based on this fossil specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Ejinhoro Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gobivenator
''Gobivenator'' is an extinct genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur known from the late Campanian Djadokhta Formation of central Gobi Desert, Mongolia. It contains a single species, ''Gobivenator mongoliensis''. ''G. mongoliensis'' is known from a single individual, which represents the most complete specimen of a Late Cretaceous troodontid currently known. Discovery ''Gobivenator'' was first described and named by Takanobu Tsuihiji, Rinchen Barsbold, Mahito Watabe, Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar, Tsogtbaatar Chinzorig, Yoshito Fujiyama and Shigeru Suzuki in 2014 and the type species is ''Gobivenator mongoliensis''. The generic name is derived from the name of the Gobi Desert, where the holotype was found, and ''venator'' meaning "hunter" in Latin. The specific name refers to its occurrence in Mongolia, as the Latin suffix ''-ensis'' means "from". ''Gobivenator'' is known solely from the holotype MPC-D 100/86, a nearly complete and articulated skeleton including the skull, housed at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harenadraco
''Harenadraco'' (meaning "sand dragon") is an extinct genus of troodontid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia. The genus contains a single species, ''H. prima'', known from a fragmentary skeleton. ''Harenadraco'' represents the first troodontid known from the Baruungoyot Formation. Since members of this family are also known from the Nemegt and Djadochta Formations, the discovery of ''Harendraco'' indicates that troodontids were important faunal components of every formation within the Nemegt Basin. Discovery and naming The ''Harenadraco'' holotype specimen, MPC-D 110/119, was discovered in 2018 in sediments of the Baruungoyot Formation (Hermiin Tsav locality) in Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia. The specimen consists of a fragmentary and partially articulated skeleton, comprising pieces of the right ilium, the end of the right femur, and several bones from the left hind leg, including the top of the femur, the end of the tibiotarsus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
